Daily Haiku 2020

Here are all the haiku that I posted on the Daily Haiku facebook page in 2020. I was doing one a day at one point, but it was starting to get obsessive so I just dip in occasionally now. The page offers a prompt for that day, and one for the week if you like.

I find now that haiku are good warm-up exercises before starting to write.

 

Anyway, here they are. Some are better than others, some are closer to the spirit of haiku than others, but sometimes the subject matter is hard to map onto the haiku philosophy. 

Existence

Because something exists,

or someone, does not mean that

it lives, loves, or dies.

Rivers

When small rivers join

they become bigger, stronger.

Rivers rarely split.

City

The city at dawn;

concrete and glass emerges
to face a new day

Wild

Where the wild things are
our shadow-minds can live free
while our body sleeps

Galaxies

Huddled together
in the vast vacuum; swirling

to oblivion

Japan

Spring will soon be here

sakura will bloom again
cool skin feels the sun

Paris

Night falls; like a fire
the shining city of light

explodes into life

Dusk

Colours are fading,
vibrancy lost in shadow;
light is sleepy now

Honey

His words, like honey,

seeped into her ears; so sweet

she was almost sick.

Childhood Memories

Fragmented; snippets

of broken time; fading fast.

One day they'll be gone.

Darkness

This night, cloaked and black,

is like daylight set against

my deep inner thoughts.

Rivers

The old river. Made

in mountains from endlessly

recycled water.

Surfaces

Skin is a surface;

whether rough, smooth, dark or light

when broken it bleeds.

Paths

As the path narrows

we push back scratching branches;

is this the wrong way?

Travels Imagined

Following Darwin

where ancient reptiles, small birds

mock the Creator.

Ferns

Ferns have no flowers.

When you see one, pick it - it

will bring you fortune. 

Love 

inspired by Giacomo Leopardi

In infinite

wonder I gaze at the stars

where, somewhere, love hides.

Streams

Mountain streams, ice cold, 

cascade over weathered rock. 

Seeking far off seas.

Walls

The dry stone walls wait.

Through wind, rain and snow they stay

impassive. Solid.

Elements

The wind fanned the flames.
Scorched the earth, razed the forests.
The river flowed on.

Woods

The stream in the woods;

crossing from darkness to light

over the worn stones.

Human

Apex predator.

It might be better to be

ape, ex-predator.

Sensation

I feel warmth, creeping

across the skin of my hand.

The month ends. I breathe.

Wildlife

Bumble bee lands. Sucks

nectar. Gets a sugar rush.

Departs at high speed.

Half

They say half a loaf

is better than no loaf; but

a full loaf is best.

Laughter

You're having a laugh!

Didn't we do this theme

a few weeks ago?

Anyway, I once

cried with laughter at legend

Billy Connolly

who we will sadly

never see on stage again.

But memories live.

Numbers

one, two, three, five, eight,

thirteen, the golden sequence

of Fibonacci

Meadows

Sculptured for the rich;

meadows faked by a man named

Capability

Absent

Your face is missing

from your bathroom mirror that

now reflects my tears.

Happiness

Could happiness be

achieved by focusing on

removing sadness?

View

The view was splendid

on the high bridge. With eyes closed,

he breathed, paused, and jumped.

Cascades of water,

sunlight breaks through waving leaves.

Dogs bark - small fish jump.

Gardens

Everything is trimmed -

probably with some scissors -

that man loves his lawn.

Childhood

Wonder and learning.

A whole world to discover.

What will he find there?

Porth Oer

The sand is whistling

in Porth Oer as the sun smiles

on my shoeless feet.

Freedom!

Out on winding trails

where your breath and footsteps

are the only sounds.

Bread

The machine's low hum

turns and kneads the stringy dough.

Rising in the heat.

Undergrowth

We don't see them, but

all types of creepy-crawlies

call undergrowth home.

Shells

The shells that we build

are fragile; they crack; shatter

to tiny pieces.

Socks

Solitary sock.

Mourning its twin. Went for wash

and never came back.

Play

"Play with me, Grandad!"

Remember what it is like

to be young again.

Cornwall

Hail Causley's county!

Land of tin and ancient kings;

salt washed sandy bays.

Community

Broken glass. Windows

boarded. Rubbish strewn. Former

community hub.

Broken homes. Lives drowned

in poverty. Despair. Old

communities lost.

Daisies

Tiny white petals

floating in a sea of green

seeking out the sun

North

Millstone grit. Empty

towns, derelict, abandoned.

Lost in a blue wave.

Mother

Mother pushes chicks.

They fall. They fly or survive.

She moves on. Job done.

Mist

The Great House appears

through the mist. Grim, cold, empty.

Once so full of life.

Birdsong

Waking birds to song
the morning sun pokes its nose
into a fresh sky

Gateways

They slammed the gates shut

when the plague came to their town.

Nobody came out.

When

When this is over

there will be a new normal.

But what was normal?

Why?

Why do we exist?

Ripples in an endless pond,

fading to nothing.

Riddles

What comes from Japan,

has seventeen syllables

and links to nature?

Kindness

Unexpected acts;

generous, selfless, loving;

Help brighten our days.

Myth

INVULNERABLE!

he screamed, then stopped and whispered

Whats that in my foot?

Child  

 

Watching him sleeping
wrapped in duvet, with teddy,
so much life to live.

What's Missing

There's a great big hole.

A chasm has opened up

since you went away.

Countryside

Thin paths, slow water,

grass waving, small animals.

A whole world apart.

Electricity

Crackling energy;

Thunderclouds a harbinger

of vivid lightning.

Rolling Stone

The rolling stone spins;

moss free, it misses so much,

learns nothing at all.

Freedom

Ask "What is freedom?"

You get so many replies

Don't think about it...

 

Islands

"Man is an Island"

we say with authority,

meaning we're alone.

Islands are baffled;

below water they connect.

It's just our viewpoint.

Cheese

Made from curds; mixed up

warm milk and vinegar. How

come you're so tasty?

Poets have been mys-
-teriously silent on
the subject of cheese - G.K. Chesterton

Sadness

 

"You're just sad!", they said

and I died a bit inside

and the Black Dog laughed.

Discovery

The things you find out

when you hear words about you

that you shouldn't hear..

When they "discovered"

America people were

already there. Er....

Poets

Why do we bother?

When did any clever words

ever change the world?

Light Sources

The bulb was so dim

he could barely see that he

owned nothing at all.

Recovery

A single green shoot

Bursts through charred and lifeless soil

Phoenix from the flames

Bridges

First victims of war,

smashed to pieces from the sky

breaking connections.

Ooops

I forgot to post
yesterday, so here are two
for the price of one.

Love

I don't write love songs

because I want, need, to spend

all my time with you.

The Present

Stay in the present!

But as I think about it,

it has been and gone.

What makes a difference

Finite difference?

Infinite indifference?

Which solves the problem?

Dragons

The dragon counts gold

Has all the wealth in the world

But still all alone.

Wild

Winter ends. The bear

wakes. She descends to find food

where the wild land ends.

Faeries

Sepia photos

of faeries in the garden!

Enchanting! Fake news.

Leaves

Do evergreen leaves

remember all their fallen

cousins of autumn?

Metamorphosis

For Sam Cooke

A change is gonna

come. Been a long time comin' -

change has got to come.

Weather

Outside my window

June has swapped with October

Mist, cool breeze, bleakness.

Scent

I still catch your scent;

in our garden, in rooms we

shared so many days.

Roots

When we search for roots

we all go back and back just

to find the same place.

Dandelions

Dandelion names -

lion's tooth or piss-a-bed;

pairs well with burdock.

Holding you up high,

letting wind carry your seeds;

I lose track of time.

Shoes

An old pair of shoes,

comfortable, familar,

won't last forever.

Silence

Sealed lips and closed eyes;

a final gasp - "I can't breathe" -

followed by silence

Faces

Janus' two faces

look forward and back; they both

shed the same dark tears.

Fish

Slip so silvery

through shadowed streams; never stop,

swim against the flow.

Laughter

The laughter faded

in the empty theater -

killed by a virus.

Laughter (posthumously by Bob Monkhouse)

They laughed when I said
"I want to be a comic" -

they're not laughing now.

Smoke

Where there's smoke there's fire

But now the chimneys have gone,

our fire turned to ash.

Music

Staves, quavers, sharps, flats

cannot convey the feelings

that music invokes.

Edges

We fear edges; if

we avoid the precipice

we will never fly.

Garden Birds

A pair of blackbirds

has made our garden their home.

They give me comfort.

Time

They say it's endless

but whether that is really

true we'll never know.

Resilience

Why weather the storm?

Why not let it overwhelm

and sweep you away?

Table and Chair

The lonely table

and unfulfilled kitchen chair

in the quiet house

Today

Today of all days

I would not have expected

it to be my last

Insects

Their army is strong

if they all got together

we would stand no chance

Sleep

When I have to die

I hope that it's in your arms

I dream my last breath.

Distance

We measure distance

to stars using ancient light

and our modern eyes.

Apples

The fallen apple

tempts the animal; the seed

hopes to be a tree.

Sound

The sound of the wind

rattles the skin of the tent,

tears at its thin ropes.

Missing

Thin, wispy white lines

criss-crossing the bright May skies

are simply missing.

Lust

Women, Fame. Power.
Lust's personifaction.

P.O.T.U.S.

Yellow

Squeezing a lemon

and tasting the bitter juice

makes you feel alive.

Quiet

When the silence comes

nature abhors a vacuum

and fills it with song

Opposites

A predator waits;

Eyes forward, focused. Its prey's

are side-placed. Watchful.

Ghosts

After your passing;

driving home, late afternoon,

I knew you were there.

Blue

The shiny ribbon,

my speaker's small LED,

this startling May sky.

Words

Circumlocuting

oversimplification -

problematical?

Night

The sun leaves;

In its absence night creatures awake;

Starlit, wild and free.

Water

Water in a pool

is gentle; But when it falls

we fear its power.

Remembering

Unreliable
fragments, lost in our brain but
sometimes recovered.

Wonder

A child views nature
with wonder; we feel sadness
at all we have lost.

Time

Time is something that
we can make, lose, gain, but most
shameful of all, kill. 

Isolation

That tree was once part
of thick woodland, full of life;
now it stands alone.

Its plaintive call fades
in the deep swirling darkness;
the last of the whales.

Flowers

Your beauty is clear;
but it is ephemeral.
Petals fall so fast. 

Haiku of Four (Isolation, Flowers, Wonder, Time)

When we go will our
sun still count the empty days
and stir dormant seeds?

VE Day

I'd like for the world
to have a unified flag
for us all to wave.

Home

The bee has its hive;
its workplace is its home too
yet it's free to fly

Trees

Laburnum yellow
contrasts with hanging lilac
and the pale blue sky. 

Journeys

Trees may grow strong roots 
but they never learn the strengths
of different soils.  

Friendship

A friend would tell you
if you've been an utter dick.
An enemy smiles.

Timothy Fellows
In the year 2020

One Haiku per day